Volodimerets

Volodimerets was a hilltop fortress among the outlying strongholds that defended the Pskov Republic. Archaeology points to settlement here by the thirteenth century. In 1462 the people of Pskov founded a new fort on the hill where an older one had stood and built a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas. An earthen rampart and wooden towers protected the summit, while a separate settlement and church lay below.

The fortress guarded the Pskov lands against Lithuanian raids and retained that role after Pskov passed to Moscow in 1510. During the Livonian War, Russian forces operated from Volodimerets, but in 1580 Stephen Báthory's army destroyed the fort. It was not rebuilt, though the settlement below survived. A fire in 1790 was followed by the construction of a stone Church of Saint Nicholas.